They had a second-period lead against a Western Conference power, lost it in a hurry and then ended up losing 4-2 on home ice.

Gunning for a three-game win streak for just the second time all season, the Devils instead lost more ground in the playoff standings, and time is running out with their regular season down to 20 games.

Here are our studs and dubs from this disappointing afternoon at Prudential Center:

STUDS:
1. ADAM HENRIQUE: He returned from Christmas break to turn a goal slump into a hot streak, and now he’s done the same thing in his first three games back from the Olympic break. Henrique had just two multi-point games all season before last Thursday. Now he has three consecutive two-point games. Against the Sharks, Henrique scored the Devils’ first goal and set up their second. On the first, he dug a puck off the wall to start a break, then hustled down the ice and scored off a pass from Steve Bernier. On the Devils’ second goal, Henrique made a wraparound attempt at the Sharks net, and after it was blocked, he retrieved the puck and passed to the point for Jon Merrill, whose shot to the net was tipped in by Patrik Elias for a short-lived 2-1 lead.

2. STEVE BERNIER: Known for his forechecking, the veteran winger doesn’t provide much offense, but Bernier set up the Devils’ first goal by driving to the net with the puck from the right wing and then throwing a cross-ice pass to Henrique, who scored from the left crease. Bernier almost scored the opening goal in the first period off a nice feed from Patrik Elias. Bernier usually plays on the checking line, but was moved up to the second line this weekend with right wing Damien Brunner out with an injury. Against the Sharks, he was on the ice for both Devils' goals, and with a plus-2 afternoon, his team-worst plus-minus rating dropped to minus-14.

2. RYANE CLOWE: Left winger didn’t score and was a minus-1, but he was a physical presence and generated some offense in his first game against the Sharks, his first NHL team. His four hits tied for the team lead, as did his three shots. Clowe was fired up facing San Jose, a team he broke into the NHL with in 2005-06 and played for until being dealt to the Rangers at the 2013 trade deadline. On Sunday, he made a nice setup on the Devils’ first power play midway from behind the goal line to Andy Greene, who fired a shot off the glass. He also forechecked his way to an offensive-zone steal along the left-wing boards in the second period and then passed to the slot from Michael Ryder, who fumbled the puck.

DUDS
1. ANDY GREENE: His costly second-period turnover led to a goal that wiped out the Devils’ only lead. Barely a minute after the Devils scored to go ahead 2-1, Greene took a risk carrying the puck in from the blue line and it turned disastrous. His blind pass to an open area was picked off by James Sheppard, who passed ahead to start a Sharks’ 2-on-1. With rookie blueliner Jon Merrill the lone Devil back, Joe Pavelski skated in and made a perfect feed to Raffi Torres, who shot into a wide-open net from the right crease.

2. CORY SCHNEIDER: Starting for the eighth time in nine games, Schneider made some tremendous saves and had no shot at stopping San Jose’s second goal, but the four goals he allowed on the day were the most he’s given up since the Devils’ 5-2 loss in Chicago on Dec. 23. His Achilles’ burned him, too. With the game scoreless early in the second, his latest struggles with puck-handling led to the opening goal. When the puck went behind the Devils net, Schneider went to play it, but after taking a little too long to gain control, he was pressured by Tommy Wingels. Greene ended up sweeping the puck to the point right to Sharks defenseman Jason Demers, who fired a shot to the net that turned into a rebound goal for Logan Couture.

3. MICHAEL RYDER: Is Ryder ever going to score again? His career-worst streak without a goal now is up to 16 games. Ryder was leading the Devils with 16 goals when he last scored way back on Jan. 11. He had no shots and was a minus-1 in 20:44 of ice time against the Sharks. His rough day included a good scoring chance from the high slot midway through the second that he flubbed by shooting high and wide of the net. Later, he carried the puck into the offensive zone on the Devils’ first power play, lost it and the Sharks got a clear. He also was on the ice for the Sharks’ first goal.